Cubs prospect Jokisch deserves his chance in majors

Wednesday

Aug 6, 2014 at 9:43 PMAug 6, 2014 at 9:43 PM

By Jim RuppertSports Editor

The Chicago Cubs have perhaps the hottest guy in Triple-A baseball playing at the their Des Moines, Iowa, farm club.

No, we're not talking about third baseman Kris Bryant, although he's awfully good. We're not talking about infielder Javier Baez, who made his major league debut Tuesday in Colorado. We're not talking about Jorge Soler, who can hit a ball a mile. And we're not talking about Mike Olt, demoted last month by the big club and hitting well as he gets regular at-bats.

The hottest of the I-Cubs is the pride of Virginia, Illinois, left-handed pitcher Eric Jokisch.

In his last two starts, the 25-year-old Jokisch has given up eight hits, one walk and no runs in 15 innings with 13 strikeouts and a pair of wins. That brought his record to 8-8 and his ERA to 3.58.

“Things are going well,” Jokisch said Wednesday by phone during an off day for the I-Cubs. “I made quite a few adjustments that are finally starting to pay off in July and August for sure.”

“Moving parts

When the season began, the I-Cubs' rotation was made up of Chris Rusin, Tsuyoshi Wada, Kyle Hendricks, Dallas Beeler and Jokisch, not in that order. All but Jokisch has pitched for the big league team, and both Hendricks and Wada are in the rotation right now.

“It's kind of some interesting situations,” Jokisch said. “Dallas Beeler was on the 40-man (roster) and he's worked pretty hard this year, too. They needed somebody in the spot for him and he did really well in his opportunities.

“Chris Rusin has been up and down for last few years. So he obviously was deserving. Tsuyoshi Wada has been fantastic here in Iowa. He's actually a veteran guy being over in Japan. He's an older guy (33) but he really knows how to pitch and he was really dominating here in Triple-A. And Kyle Hendricks, he's been the best pitcher I've seen. He really knows how to pitch, knows how to get guys out. He was definitely deserving, too.

“It's an interesting spot that I'm in. I'm not on the 40-man, so it's going to take several moves by the Cubs to get me to pitch in Chicago.

“So all I can think about is trying to pitch here and take it one start at a time and try to get my outs because I'm in a really good situation and I'm really enjoying what I'm doing right now.”

Wasn't ready

Pitching in Chicago has stabilized with Jake Arrieta, Travis Wood, Edwin Jackson, Wada and Hendricks. But when the Cubs were making moves, Jokisch wasn't on their radar screen.

“To see all my buddies . . . Beeler and Hendricks are my roommates and have been for two years now,” Jokisch said. “To see them go up there and have success, I know I can do it.

“When a lot of these moves were being made was in June. I wasn't ready then. I knew that I was making adjustments. I knew that I was going through some stuff and I wasn't having results. I didn't deserve to go up.”

After working the past three seasons with Griffin High School graduate Jeff Fassero, Jokisch's pitching coach in Iowa is Bruce Walton.

“He's probably the best pitching coach I've had,” Jokisch said. “I've worked with Jeff Fassero the last three years and we did a lot good things. But it's nice to have a different voice here.

“(Walton) worked with Roy Halladay for a long time in Toronto. He really knows what he's talking about, especially with how to attack hitters, how to pitch through lanes, which is kind of difficult to describe but it's been huge in my adjustment in Triple-A.”

Keith Law of espn.com rates the Cubs' farm system No. 1 in all of baseball. The guys closest to the majors are Jokisch and his teammates.

“It's been exciting here in Iowa,” Jokisch said. “We've had all the big name guys have come through here.

“Javy (Baez) has been here all year. He went through his struggles and it's good to see him work through that and get really hot here in June and July and get his call up and his chance and to see the Chicago Cub Nation really get excited for Javy to come up.

“Kris Bryant came up here right at the All-Star break. He's been a great hitter since he stepped on the field here. He's been really impressive to watch.

“And now Soler has gotten here. He's about as strong and as physical a specimen as I have seen. He can really play, too. We have definitely seen some impressive offense come through the Iowa Cubs system.”

Proud pitchers

The pitching isn't too shabby either.

“You can just look at the stats of the guys here and in (Class AA) Tennessee,” Jokisch said. “I think our pitching staff is like second in the league. We've gone out and we've pitched. We may not be the electric, overpowering-looking pitchers but we know how to pitch.

“You look at how Hendricks has done, and Wada has done and Beeler and pretty much everybody that has gotten the chance from here has gone up and pitched well in Chicago. And the guys in Tennessee are doing really well, too. They may not be as exciting of prospects as Javy Baez and Bryant and Soler, but they're really getting the job done and hopefully I can be a part of that myself.”

His teammates have come and gone. Tuesday night on the bus ride home from Omaha, Jokisch and his teammates watched each of Baez's six at-bats on an iPad. September and expanded rosters aren't far away, but Jokisch says he'll just let that play out.

“It kind of hurts every time you see some of your buddies up there doing well and how awesome it is up there,” the Northwestern University-educated Jokisch said. “I know my time is coming. Hopefully it's here with the Cubs.

“I feel like now I am able to do what I able to do on mound and hopefully I will be ready when the time comes.”

Contact Jim Ruppert: jim.ruppert@sj-r.com or 788-1549.

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